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DETAILS OF NEW INS HUBBING PLAN
In light of current budget constraints, the INS Central Region has developed a plan to make the most effective use possible of its limited resources, and to maintain proper enforcement of immigration laws and protection of the rights of those in INS custody. The plan also makes specific provisions for dealing with the influx of immigrants expected from Central America in the wake of Hurricane Mitch. 
There are 11 districts within the INS Central Region. Under the prior practice, when an immigrant was taken into custody pending removal proceedings, the immigrant would receive a hearing and be processed within the district where he was apprehended. However, because some districts lacked easy access to Immigration Judges and consular officials (whose participation is necessary for the detained immigrant to obtain travel papers to return home), the time spent in detention was often longer than necessary. To improve INS processing and treatment of detainees, the new plan proposes to take advantage of the districts where there is easy access to consular and other officials to speed the removal process.
Under the new plan, Harlingen (Port Isabel SPC), Texas will be the designated hearing and removal site for Mexican nationals apprehended in the eastern half of the Central Region, and El Paso will be the designated hearing and removal site for Mexican nationals apprehended in the western half of the Central Region. Mexican nationals apprehended in the areas around San Antonio and Laredo will be processed in San Antonio. All Central American nationals will be taken to Dallas for their hearing and Houston for removal processing. Chicago will be the designated hearing and removal site for immigrants of all other nationalities who are subject to removal. The Denver office will be used as the hearing site for any overflow from Dallas and Chicago. 
The plan also calls for increased INS cooperation with consular officials, to speed the issuance of travel documents. Another goal of the plan is to determine which districts’ caseloads call for the placement of additional Immigration Judges.
The plan has its critics, among them immigration attorneys who fear the plan would jeopardize the legal rights of immigrants by forcing them to leave their families and lawyers. Also, many wonder whether there are sufficient legal resources in Texas to deal with the increased numbers of detainees that would be housed there. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has sent a letter to the INS criticizing the plan. Representative Luis Guiterrez (D-Ill.) said the plan "deals with human beings as if they were packages that need to be shipped."
The INS initially said the plan would become effective in May but now says that because of the amount of feedback they have received they cannot be certain of when the proposal will be finalized.